Total failure and emergency operation
This is the situation in the clinics in Gaza City
By Marc Dimpfel
November 14, 2023, 5:15 p.m
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According to the WHO, 20 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are out of service. Especially in the north, the clinics are caught between the front lines. Israel accuses Hamas of using facilities for military purposes. At the same time, the supply situation is constantly getting worse. An overview of the main clinics in Gaza City and what is known about their current situation.
Al-Shifa Hospital
With around 700 beds, Al-Shifa Hospital is the largest clinic in Gaza. The Israeli army assumes that there is a Hamas command base in the building and has advanced tanks to the entrance to the hospital. Hamas denies any military use. Fighting rages in the surrounding streets. The World Health Organization (WHO) complains about “appalling conditions”. “Constant shelling and bombing in the area” would have made the situation even worse.
In the meantime, tens of thousands had sought shelter in the clinic complex. Many have now fled to the south of the Gaza Strip. However, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza says there are at least 2,300 people still inside the clinic, including patients, clinic staff and civilians seeking protection. The United Nations even suspects up to 10,000 people in the building.
The Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip in a satellite image from November 11th.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Contrary to Palestinian statements, the Shifa Clinic continues to operate despite the power outage, the WHO said. “For us, it is a functioning hospital because of the heroic efforts of the remaining staff,” said WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris. There are still around 700 seriously ill patients to be cared for. However, there is a lack of fuel to run the generators. Solar energy is used to operate some critical systems, reports BBC.
The cooling in the morgues apparently no longer works. A local journalist working with the AFP news agency said the smell of rotting corpses in the hospital complex was overpowering. According to hospital director Mohammed Abu Salamia, a mass grave was dug on the site. Among the 179 dead buried were seven babies and 29 patients from the intensive care unit.
The situation of newborns is particularly dramatic. According to the hospital, three of 39 infants died over the weekend. The staff had to take premature babies out of the incubators. “We wrap them in foil and put hot water next to them to warm them,” explains Abu Salamia. Israel says it is organizing the delivery of incubators to Gaza to save the babies, the army said on X.
Israel’s military says it dumped around 300 liters of fuel not far from the hospital on Sunday. However, Hamas prevented the clinic staff from collecting the containers. Clinic director Abu Salamia denies this. He also says that the fuel provided would not last for “fifteen minutes.”
Al-Kuds Hospital
The second largest hospital in Gaza is Al-Kuds. A spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent told Reuters that the clinic had been cut off from the outside world for almost a week. According to the Red Crescent on Saturday, 500 patients and 14,000 displaced people, mostly women and children, were trapped in the hospital. On Sunday it was said that the hospital was no longer functional due to running out of fuel and the power outage.
Fighting is also raging in the area around the hospital. Israel’s army said on Monday it had killed 21 terrorists in clashes. Israeli soldiers had previously been attacked from the entrance area of the hospital. The attackers are said to have mixed with civilians.
Al-Ahli Hospital
Patients are apparently still being cared for in the Al-Ahli Clinic – albeit beyond capacity limits. Doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah told the BBC that the hospital was currently accepting all the wounded in Gaza City. However, there would not be enough resources to care for everyone.
Ambulances with injured people arrive every ten minutes. “We don’t have an X-ray technician and we lack medication, so when we have large wounds we have to do extremely painful procedures to keep them clean, with no painkillers and no anesthesia,” the doctor said, according to the BBC.
Al-Ahli Hospital was the scene of an explosion in mid-October. Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the rocket that apparently hit the parking lot. However, there is evidence to suggest that a misguided Palestinian rocket was responsible.
Al-Rantisi and Al-Nasr
The small Al-Rantisi Hospital specializes in the treatment of children. There was heavy fighting in the surrounding district last week. On Friday, the hospital was evacuated in consultation with the Israeli army, as was the adjacent Al-Nasr Hospital. Hundreds of people had to leave the building.
According to the hospital management, particularly seriously injured patients were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, which was already overloaded at the time. In a video verified by the BBC, people can be seen coming under fire as they tried to leave Al-Nasr. It was unclear who fired the shots.
The Israeli army has released a video that claims to demonstrate Hamas’ use of Al-Rantisi Hospital. Accordingly, the terrorists stored weapons and held hostages in the basement. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari shows, among other things, photos of rifles and rocket launchers as well as rooms that are said to have served as a command center.
Indonesian hospital
The hospital on the outskirts of Jabalia, built in 2015 with support from the Indonesian government, is one of the more modern facilities in Gaza. It has 110 beds. Operations are currently continuing. “But the hospital is only working at 30 to 40 percent of its capacity,” says director Atef Al-Kahlot. A AFP video shows how injured people are treated despite power outages. The staff treats the wounded using flashlights.